Phumtham vows to review submarine deal, military reshuffle list

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday that he will review both the annual reshuffle list of senior military officers and the submarine deal before further processing them.

Speaking to reporters after he started working at the Defence Ministry, Phumtham said he would not rush to have pending issues of the ministry done but he would carefully deliberate on them case by case by taking public opinions and those of the Armed Forces into account.

Asked whether issues he would review would include the submarine deal that has been finalised by his predecessor, Sutin Klungsang, Phumtham said, “Yes. I should review it and make a decision based on reasons [provided by] agencies concerned.

“I think as the defence minister, I can talk to the military leaders well.”

In July, then defence minister Sutin said he decided to go ahead with the procurement of an S26T Yuan-class submarine from China for 13.5 billion baht because it had already been built by China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC). Sutin said cancellation of the deal could hurt the friendly ties of the two nations.

While Sutin was awaiting a consultation with then prime minister Srettha Thavisin in July, Srettha was deposed by the Constitutional Court on July 14, leading to appointment of a new Cabinet.

Initially, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) wanted to purchase three S26T Yuan-class submarines from China for about US$1.06 billion (38.61 billion baht). However, because of budget constraints, Thailand reduced its order to just one S26T for 13.5 billion baht.

Under the initial contract signed in May 2017, the submarine was to have been equipped with a German-made MTU-396 diesel engine.

However, the CSOC later found out that it could not secure the German engine for the submarine and instead offered to fit it with a China-made CHD620 engine.

Sutin was about to seek Cabinet’s approval for amendment of the contract when Srettha was ousted, ending the power of his Cabinet to give a green light to the contract amendment.

On speculation that the annual military reshuffle list has not been finalised because the choice of a new navy chief has not been agreed upon, Phumtham said he has been talking to Adung Phan-iam, the retiring navy chief, during the past four or five days.
“I’ll reach a conclusion soon,” Phumtham said.

He said he called a meeting of the board of seven top officers of the Defence Ministry and armed forces about the reshuffle list on September 12 after the new government delivered its policy statement to Parliament.

Phumtham said he found out that the reshuffle was a difficult issue to consider because he needed to learn more about military affairs.

“But I’ll consult the top brass. I think this is a normal thing to happen during a transitional period. It will be best for us to hold talks and consult one another first,” Phumtham said.

When asked whether the list of reshuffled senior army officers has been completed, Phumtham replied: “I’ll have to review it as well. I just saw it.”